There is talk of DNA on an envelope, but when did self-adhesive stamps become common in the US?

I donít know..but The dna on the envelope and stamps could basically be anyone who handled them. The zodiac could have been wearing gloves and or used a wet sponge pad like many people use. The zodiac was very meticulous and well planned out with everything so it wouldnít surprise me.

Plus itís late 60s when this happened and the dna they did collect was only partial dna anyway. I donít place much faith in the dna evidence in this case.

Not enough to rule anyone out, thatís for sure.

__________________"Is all that we see or seem
but a dream within a dream?"
-Edgar Allan Poe

"...the man and the peaked cap he is said to have worn
quite tallies with the descriptions I got of him."
-Frederick G. Abberline

There is talk of DNA on an envelope, but when did self-adhesive stamps become common in the US?

Hi Robert. Common? Early 1990s. There was an early experiment in 1974, but it didn't go well.

The motive for the self-adhesive stamp, by the way, wasn't convenience. It was to stop stamp thieves from steaming off stamps and re-using them.

"With the Christmas 1974 issue, the Postal Service experimented with a self-adhesive precanceled stamp. It was believed that the tightly bonded self-adhesive would not permit stamps to be soaked off. An additional security feature placed slits in the stamps to foil attempts to peel them off. Unfortunately, the stamps cost three to five times more to produce than regular postage stamps, they could still be soaked off and reused, and stamps in the hands of collectors started to self-destruct.

In 1989, the Postal Service again experimented with self-adhesive stamps, this time with emphasis on customer convenience. The new self-adhesives had a water-soluble adhesive and were produced on coated paper, so the effects of the adhesive would not be destructive. Introduced nationwide in 1992, self-adhesive stamps now are issued in formats that include booklets, coils, sheets, and souvenir sheets."

I have no idea if Allen was guilty, but this "negative" DNA evidence struck me as about as convincing at the DNA evidence found on the "Eddowes" shawl. The envelope had been handled for decades. Johnny Cochran would have salivated at the thought of this evidence being brought to a courtroom.

And supposedly it was proven that Allen hated the taste of postage stamps and asked others to lick them for him. I have no idea if that is true, but it's been claimed.

The zodiac was very meticulous and well planned out with everything so it wouldn’t surprise me.

Ehh, I don't know about that, Abby. I would argue that the Zodiac was quite a reckless killer actually. Two of his victims survived the attacks, he allowed himself to be seen by several witnesses, left fingerprints behind, called the police and provided them with examples of his handwriting.

I got caught up with 3 episodes so far of the "Hunt for the Zodiac Killer" doc series, and thought it was pretty interesting, though the supercomputer that breaks codes and even wrote a poem about the serial killer is a bit futuristic. The comments about the Riverside and Santa Barbara killings are interesting, as well as the investigation of the woman who disappeared in Lake Tahoe.

I think they seem like serious detectives, and haven't seemed to use "pseudo-science" in their investigation at all. Sullivan seems likely for the Riverside murder, and Kane for the Tahoe one... But was either the actual Zodiac Killer?

Iíve watched with interest but weíve only had the first 2 episodes so far. Sullivan and Kane appear to be very good suspects for the 2 murders and possibly the Zodiac killings. The chilling part of this case of course is that thereís a reasonable chance that heís still alive somewhere living a Ďnormalí life. Probably a pillar of the community.
Iím a complete novice on this case (i think that Iíve only ever read the Greysmith book and that was years ago) so I checked out the Zodiac forum to see how much interest there is. ĎLivelyí would be an understatement. They certainly know their stuff on there.

Iíve watched with interest but weíve only had the first 2 episodes so far. Sullivan and Kane appear to be very good suspects for the 2 murders and possibly the Zodiac killings. The chilling part of this case of course is that thereís a reasonable chance that heís still alive somewhere living a Ďnormalí life. Probably a pillar of the community.
Iím a complete novice on this case (i think that Iíve only ever read the Greysmith book and that was years ago) so I checked out the Zodiac forum to see how much interest there is. ĎLivelyí would be an understatement. They certainly know their stuff on there.

Hi hs
Whatís the name of it.

__________________"Is all that we see or seem
but a dream within a dream?"
-Edgar Allan Poe

"...the man and the peaked cap he is said to have worn
quite tallies with the descriptions I got of him."
-Frederick G. Abberline